


AU where Jon is Shredded

by Kaiel



Category: The Magnus Archives
Genre: Crack Taken Seriously, Jon had ADHD, M/M, jon is accidentally adopted by a pack of gym lesbians, people actually communicate with each other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:22:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23978149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaiel/pseuds/Kaiel
Summary: Au but the only thing I change is that Jon is absolutely ripped- he’s a very stressed man, and he stress works out.
Relationships: Eventual Jon Sims/Martin Blackwood
Comments: 220
Kudos: 839





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have no explanation for this, Am I projecting hard onto Jon? Absolutely. But there’s no way that man doesn’t have ADHD, and exercise would probably do wonders for his mental health.

Jon had not wanted to go to the mandatory counselling. What Jon wanted to do was get back to work. The circular wounds left by the worms didn’t stop him from being able to read, and he knew they were still cleaning up the mess from the attack, and the thought of all those strangers in his archives made him twitchy. 

However, in order to get back to work before the “recommended medical leave” was over, company policy demanded he attend a counselling session to ensure his desire to return to work wasn’t just a trauma response or some rot. 

Which was why Jon was so surprised by the result of the session. The psychiatrist had spoken to him for less then 10 minutes before asking if Jon had ever had a diagnosis for ADHD. Jon had scoffed saying that was preposterous, but the psychiatrist persisted. And the more the man told Jon about the various symptoms the more Jon’s firm belief that the man was wrong began to waver. 

Jon had always been under the assumption that ADHD was purely related to being able to focus on things, and as Jon had often caught himself focusing so intently he forgot to eat, he had simply assumed it wasn’t possible for him to have an attention problem. 

As it turned out- focusing to the exclusion of all other things, like food or sleep; was a major hallmark of ADHD, and not in fact a thing that everyone did. And apparently there was a reason that Jon had had such a dreadful time with procrastinating on school assignments until the last possible minute. 

The psychiatrist had of course recommended a variety of different prescriptions Jon could try, but in the wake of Prentiss’s attack, the idea of doing anything to alter his brain chemistry with Gertrude’s killer still out there made him far too nervous. So the psychiatrist had recommended joining a gym. Apparently regular physical activity could be very useful in managing symptoms for adults with ADHD. 

Jon didn’t really have much of an excuse not to try either, one of the perks of his new promotion to Head Archivist had come with a corporate membership card to a nearby gym. Since Jon lived close to where he worked, he figured it couldn’t hurt to give it a try. Besides, having needed to run for his life from Prentiss, Jon figured getting a little stronger in case of future emergencies couldn’t hurt. 

Which is how Jon found himself standing in a gym, feeling very out of his depth and very self conscious of all of the plasters still littering his skin. He had no idea of what to do or where to start. 

“Hi there! I haven’t seen you around. You new?” Jon tensed at the voice on reflex, still jumpy in general. The woman who spoke looked like she could snap Jon in half. Not from bulky muscle like he had seen on body builders, but lean hard muscle. She probably wrestled bears on weekends. He glanced at the rainbow on her water bottle and double Venus symbol. Then again, maybe no wrestling of bears. 

“Uh, yes. New, um, corporate membership,” he muttered. He wanted to disappear, feeling deeply embarrassed by how obvious it was that he didn’t belong here. 

“Nice. Well, welcome! My name is Becky, if you’d like, my friends and I kind of help each other out with work out routines. You could join us?”

Jon nearly said no on principle, intending to spend an embarrassing hour on the treadmill, shower, and then never come back here as long as he lived. But he happened to glance over at the ‘friends’ Becky had pointed to. It was a collection of five people. One of them waved in Jon’s direction. They were wearing a shirt that said they/them. Jon couldn’t stop himself from relaxing just a little seeing it. He had been beaten up for being queer in high school. It had been one of many reasons he had never bothered going to a gym. But looking at the group, he didn’t think there was one straight person among them, and it was a surprisingly comforting thought. 

“I, um, I suppose I could-“ he began. 

“Great! I’ll introduce you!”

He left the gym as part of a new group text and with an invitation to join them again on Wednesday. Jon was tired, but he felt good. Better then he would have thought. For the first time, the hum of anxious energy that seemed to live just under his skin was a little less sharp. Jon slept through the night for the first time since the Prentiss attack. 

By the end of the month, Jon was going back nearly every day. His paranoia over the death of Gertrude Robinson was growing, and with it a horrible sense of anxiety. He felt like he was being watched constantly when he was at work, and he knew his coworkers had noticed his jumpy behaviour, and probably his suspicions of them. 

The only place he didn’t feel so anxious was with Becky and the others at the gym. Actually getting to the gym itself sometimes felt like a Herculean task, especially when he had to drag himself away from his work to do so. But once he was there and was greeted by whichever of the posse had shown for the day, he was always glad of it. 

Jon had always been a pretty skinny guy, so there wasn’t really a great deal of weight for him to loose. So his time spent at the gym began to show in other ways. Jon hadn’t even really noticed until he used the bottom of his shirt to wipe at his eyes and one of the girls gave him a wolf whistle. He knew she didn’t mean anything by it. Her girlfriend was standing right next to her grinning. 

“What?” He asked a bit annoyed, and worried that perhaps it was all the scars? He couldn’t recall removing his shirt around them before, perhaps he was being mocked? But that didn’t make sense, Julie was usually so nice-

“Looks like you core workouts are really paying off! You got the start of a nice washboard there Jon!” Julie said. 

“What?” Jon asked again in confusion, cautiously lifting his shirt and glancing in the mirror. She was right, Jon could clearly see some sharp lines that had not been there before. Which was… interesting. Jon shrugged it off. He needed to get back to the exercise. Cathy had promised to give him a boxing lesson, which was much more interesting then anything about his body. 

***

Jon found it was difficult to be paranoid about his coworkers when he felt so good. He had never been so much less anxious. He hadn’t had a panic attack in weeks and he actually slept through the night most nights. Though he did still have the occasional dream about some of the statements he was recording. The trouble was, his normal schedule of daily gym visits meant that there was no way for him to check out the tunnels on his own and look for clues about Gertrude’s murderer. 

He had tried to let his gym friends know he couldn’t make it, but they badgered him until he confessed that it was a work thing, and no it wasn’t strictly mandatory, and fine if Cathy promised to show him how to do the hold from last week he would come. 

The one time he tried to go down the tunnels to explore, emerging shaking and scared, he found 13 missed calls and his voice message box full from worried lesbians. Now that Jon thought about it, maybe going a few rounds with Laura at the gym would be a good idea. Help him work out all the nervous energy from his jaunt in the tunnels. 

He thought about spying on his coworkers, trying to learn more about them, rule them out as suspects. But doing so would require him to either give up going to the gym as often, or give up sleeping, and while before Jon would have gladly given up sleep if it meant getting answers, he was reluctant to now. He had never felt so energized now that he was actually sleeping through the night. And he knew just how easy it would be to fall back into old habits. Besides, he knew his crew of lesbian (and non binary) gym rats would probably bodily drag him back to the gym anyway. 

Secretly he was grateful for it. It made it easier to make the decision. It didn’t stop him from being suspicious of his coworkers of course, but at least he kept that to business hours. 

Actually he found it quite helpful to talk it through with his new gym friends. The suspected murder of Gertrude Robinson had been a hot topic of conversation in the gym for a while, with there being plenty of members of the Magnus Institute taking advantage of the corporate membership. So it wasn’t exactly a secret, and Jon wasn’t as good at hiding his paranoia as he thought he was. The lesbians were the ones who suggested that maybe Jon should investigate the tunnels with his assistants one on one, and if they looked like they knew where they were going, he would know to be suspicious. It was a good plan, so Jon did just that. He very quickly ruled out both Martin and Tim. There was no possible way Martin was that good an actor, even if he had been very attentive to Jon’s needs. Becky had pointed out with a laugh that someone caring about him shouldn’t be cause for suspicion, unless it was suspicion of a crush. Which, Jon immediately decided not to think about. 

Tim he ruled out for a very different reason, because as Jon subtly tried to watch Tim, he could see Tim doing the same to him, both trying to determine if the other could have possibly been through the tunnels before. It was such a ridiculous situation that Jon ended up letting out a startled laugh. And after explaining why to a suspicious Tim —whose skeptically squinted eyes only caused Jon to laugh more — they both ended up laughing about it. 

They had never really been close friends, but it had broken the tension to bring them back to where they had been before. Though Jon was sure to keep his new suspicions of Sasha to himself. He had thought about following her on her lunch breaks to see where she was going, but he found that these days he was eating a great deal more then he used to, and he actually needed his lunch breaks to eat. Still, their conversation about the table in artifact storage and her behaviour in the tunnels made him nervous. Which he combated by more aggressive boxing with Cathy. 

The more research he did, however, the more he began to suspect that Sasha wasn’t actually Sasha. He had no way to confirm it though. None of the remaining tapes from the attack on the archives had Sasha’s voice. It wasn’t until Melanie mentioned the new girl that Jon finally accepted that the woman he knew as Sasha was a replacement. 

Jon knew he had to do something. He knew it was probably a bad idea to do it alone, he had seen one of the new members at the gym get into some real trouble just the week before by lifting without a proper spotter. Jon figured maybe it would be a good idea to have support on this. So he called Tim and Martin into his office when Sasha was on her lunch break, and presented his findings. 

He had been very thorough in his research of the Not!them. Tim understandably didn’t take it well. He punched a hole in the wall of Jon’s office. Martin flinched violently. 

“How did I not see it? It’s been 8 months! How did I not notice she’s been gone for 8 months!” Tim nearly shouted in that way people yell when they are trying not to. 

“Tim it’s not your fault-“ Martin began. 

“No. It is, I could have at least noticed.  
Jon noticed for Pete’s sake!!” Jon tried not to take offence at that. 

“Tim I understand you’re upset but-“ Jon began. 

“No. We have to kill this thing. How do we do it?” Jon couldn’t help but agree. 

“I think the table in artifact storage might have something to do with it. I don’t know what, but I know she’s been by to, to stare at it.” Tim nodded. 

“So we destroy the table then. Alright. I’ll bring my axe to work tomorrow.” Tim said, eyes filled with steel. 

“Guys! It- whatever it is, we don’t know enough about it to know for sure that would kill it. What if it just makes it angry and we don’t have a back up plan? And we still don’t know for sure it isn’t her without those tapes,” Martin said, quickly stepping in and attempting to be the voice of reason. Neither Tim nor Jon looked convinced, but Jon reluctantly agreed that more information was probably a good idea before making a rash decision. Tim agreed to follow not-Sasha on her lunch break to see what he could find out. But he was firm that once they knew for certain how to kill it, they were going to kill it. Sasha deserved nothing less then the most complete avenging of her death. 

“Do, um, do you need help moving the bookcase over?” Martin asked after Tim left. 

“What for?” Jon asked confused. 

“To cover the hole Tim punched?” 

“Ah. Hmm yes I suppose it would be a good idea to cover it.” Jon said standing. He casually shifted the bookshelf over a foot or so to the left. Martins eyes widened. The bookcase was a good two feet taller then Jon, and Martin knew from the last 8 times he had helped friends move that books were very much Not Light. But Jon had barely grunted. What was more, when Jon had shifted the bookcase, Martin had caught the slight straining of the fabric on Jon’s sleeves as his biceps flexed. It was a little overwhelming. Martin left the office, his cheeks burning.


	2. Jon’s sense of style is menaced by lesbians

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back by popular demand, here’s a bit more of this ridiculous au 😋 feel free to comment if you think I should keep it going.

When Jon finally made it to the gym later that day Julie caught him by the arm on his way in. 

“Jon when was the last time you bought new clothes?” 

“Oh I, um, I don’t really remember it’s, not for a while?” 

“Right.” Julie’s girlfriend Jean said coming up on Jon’s other side. “This is an intervention Jon.”

“What!? What’s wrong with my clothes?” Jon stammered, flustered. 

“Not sure if you’ve noticed Jon, but those poor buttons are working pretty hard and I feel bad for the seams.” Jon glances down. He had always tried to wear clothes that fit properly, and when he had bought this shirt the year before it had fit fine. Now though, he could see areas of it had filled out in places he’d never had to worry about before. The shirt was probably a bit tighter than was work appropriate. It had been hidden largely by the cardigans he wore while at work, but now that the sweater had been discarded, the poor fit of his shirt was more obvious.

“Right. Well, I’ll um make sure to get rid of this one when I get home then-“

“Nope!” Julie said with glee. “We are taking you shopping. Becky is holding a cardio endurance class in three hours for the late class, so we have three hours to spiff you up.” Jon tried to protest but Jean was too quick. 

“Don’t try to say you have plans, you have no life beyond us and your work, so we are intervening. Shopping trip. Come on. Lex is already waiting in the car.” Jon was practically dragged out of the gym and into the small red car owned by Lex. 

It was not, all told, an unpleasant trip. It did at least take Jon’s mind off the situation with Sasha. And the girls and Lex had been right, it probably was time he updated his wardrobe a bit. It had been a long time since he had gone shopping, and he had never gone shopping with an audience before. It was a new experience, and Jon found himself feeling like something of a Barbie doll as they went from store to store, shoving different clothes at him and pushing him into a dressing room. 

Jon had been hesitant to try on the flannels that kept getting thrown his way, but they were surprisingly comfortable, and it did get cold in the archives. So Jon found himself unable to resist buying a few. Lex insisted that if he wore a solid colour bow tie and a brown jacket over the flannels it still counted as formal. Jon figured that if anyone would know it would be Lex. They worked for an HR department for some major company somewhere. 

He did have to admit, the pants that Jean insisted were his size were more flattering then any he had worn before- though her insistence that a certain archival assistant might like them too was firmly ignored. Though his blush didn’t go unnoticed. 

Jon wasn’t sure about the suspenders they all insisted he buy, with corresponding bow tie colours, but he quickly found they were right and the suspenders were far more comfortable than a belt had ever been. Jon might have felt a little guilty for spending so much money on himself for non-essentials like clothing, but since his promotion and subsequent pay raise, he hadn’t actually treated himself to anything nice. And his three shopping companions were very encouraging.

They made it back just in time for Becky’s class and Jon felt a million times better when he left the gym, even if it was significantly later than he normally liked to be out. Lex gave him a ride home. He had bought far to much to be easily transported via the tube. 

The next day found Jon in a green plaid flannel shirt, a dark brown blazer with lighter brown elbow patches, matching trousers and a vibrant yellow bow tie. Jon didn’t think he had ever actually felt good in his clothes before, but with everything going on, wearing the new clothes felt a bit like wearing armour. Like he was carrying all the nice things his gym friends had said about him the day before with him. 

Jon was running late as he often did. It always seemed he was either here hours before everyone else or he was at least half an hour late. He used to berate himself for it, but having done a bit more research into ADHD, he had learned that having difficultly with time was not an uncommon symptom, so now Jon just tried to make sure that he didn’t stress himself out in the mornings. If he came late, he just made sure to stay late. Since he was the head of the department, it wasn’t like anyone was going to write him up for it, and as Elias never said anything, Jon figured it was probably fine. 

Jon did not notice anyone’s reactions to his new clothing when he came in, his mind was too full of other concerns, namely that strange table in artifact storage. He could have sworn there were other statements about it... He very thoroughly distracted himself, barely even noticing his assistants as he wandered into statement storage. Not that this was new behaviour for Jon. Tim and Martin both knew better than to bother Jon before Martin had brought him some tea. He tended to be far more distractible early in the morning. 

Martin for his part was having a heck of a time that morning. Jon had come in a half an hour late looking like he had stepped off a runway for lumberjack formal wear. It was doing things to Martin. It was apparently so obvious that it was doing things to Martin that Tim managed to crack a joke about it. Which was good. It was the first time Martin had seen Tim smile since Jon told them about Sasha. 

They had sent Sasha out on a fact finding mission, neither Martin nor Tim able to face being in the same room as her for very long. Tim hadn’t told Martin, but he had brought his axe to work. He would follow Sasha on her lunch break as he had promised, but when the day was over? That table was going to be splinters. 

Tim found out that Sasha had been going to a wax museum on her breaks, which raised more questions than it answered. Tim was firm though. That table had to go. He waited until Sasha had left. He knew Jon would be staying late tonight. Jon always did on days when he was running behind. 

“I’m going to destroy that table. You can help or you can leave, but it’s happening tonight,” Tim said. Jon stared at him a moment before nodding. 

“Right. Should- is Martin helping too?” 

“I don’t want him to stop us.” Tim said. 

“Probably should have made sure I’d left then,” Martin said, coming up behind Tim with his arms crossed. 

“Martin-“

“I’m not going to stop you. If this is what we are doing then we are doing it together. I want that thing pretending to be her dead too.” 

It was with the blind confidence of men who have made a terrible choice that the three of them made their way to artifact storage. Tim began to hack at the table. And a familiar echoing laughter filled the air as Jon saw the unwelcome face of Michael.


	3. In which Jon navigates the dangerous waters of appropriate social interaction with his coworkers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Could this be any more self indulgent? Probably. Anyway, here’s another chapter, I am blown away by the amount of comments this fic has gotten, truly blown away, so thank you, hit me up on tumblr if you me like to chat! @nireidi

Chapter 3

“That was very stupid,” Michael laughed as the three of them turned, crowding together slightly. 

“What do you want?” Jon demanded. Every hair in his body was standing on end and he suddenly had a very bad feeling. 

“There’s no other way out of this room.”

“What?” Asked Tim, readjusting his grip on the axe, preparing to attack if he needed too. 

“You won’t have time to escape before they get here.” Michael laughed. 

“The-the not Sasha? But, but the table-“ Martin began, the slightest tremble in his voice, though he was proud that it was hardly noticeable. 

“Was binding it quiet effectively.”

“Oh fu-“ Tim began when they heard it. 

“Oh Joooooooonnnn!” If there had been any doubts that this Sasha was really gone that voice eliminated them. There was a sort of static that fell over the area. 

“You need a door” Michael taunted in his singsong voice. Jon wasn’t listening. He had planted his feet the way Cathy had taught him. He was scared, but Michael scared him too, and he knew Tim had done some MMA in university- though he wasn’t sure how he knew that, Tim must have mentioned it at some point. And Martin was a big guy- Jon liked their odds against the creature that wasn’t Sasha better then he liked their odds against Michael should the other monster choose to be malicious in his intentions. 

The Not Sasha creature, when it came around from behind a shelf, was difficult to look at. The limbs seemed too long and it was stretched thin in a way that was clearly inhuman. It reached for them as it approached, but Jon dodged under its arm, grabbing what he thought might have been a joint, and bending hard to snap it the other way. He pulled the creature closer to him and threw all of his considerable strength into punching it right in what he thought was its face. 

His fist went right through. Sand erupted out of the hole. Tim took it as an opportunity to begin hacking wildly with his axe and between that and Jon adding a few swift kicks to the creatures torso it didn’t take them long to destroy it. Michael pouted and closed his door.

“Ok what the hell??” Martin said, his voice pitched high. He wasn’t sure if he was panicking about the monster, or about watching Jon take the monster down, which had been a sight that Martin would treasure. Tim glanced at Martin, and then back at Jon. Tim like to consider himself a good bro, even in dire circumstances.

“Jon you should probably take that jacket off, we don’t know if that sand could be- I don’t know evil or something.” Jon jerked in surprise, still breathing hard. Tim was right. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of such a thing. They didn’t know how Sasha was replaced. Maybe the sand was part of it? He quickly stripped down to his undershirt, just to be safe. He’d have to be careful when he washed the shirt and jacket later. Jon looked back at the other two. 

“Martin are you quite alright? It didn’t get you, did it?” Jon asked looking for signs of injury. 

“What? Not, no no I’m fine.” Martin squeaked out. 

“It’s just you’re quite red and-“ Tim started to laugh at this point. Honestly he never would have thought it but even he got a bit flustered when Jon removed his shirt. Tim didn’t know what he had been expecting, but it certainly hadn’t been that. Poor Martin on the other hand was as red as a tomato, and Jon seemed utterly oblivious to the reactions of his coworkers. 

“Right, we should, get out of here? I guess? Maybe alert Elias to the situation, and, and Sasha’s family I suppose.” That brought the mood down quite a bit. Even if they had killed the monster masquerading as Sasha, it didn’t change the fact that Sasha was dead, and something that looked like her was leaking sand all over the floor. 

“Artifact storage can clean this up. They have the training,” Tim suggested, eager to get as far away from the mess as possible. 

“Yes, yes I suppose that makes the most sense, doesn’t it?” Jon said, glancing again at the sand-covered clothes in his hands. “I’ll, um, I’ll email Elias a report on what happened then. I suppose you two should go home and get some rest.” Jon said. The entire situation had been somewhat anticlimactic and Jon wasn’t really sure where to go from here. 

“No,” Tim said leading them out of artifact storage. “We are going to order pizza and get very drunk. Archives sleepover. We still don’t know how she was replaced, and I don’t know about you, but I’m not keen on facing that thing again alone if it somehow comes back, or if it has friends.” Jon looked like he very badly wanted to say no. Social interactions like this were not exactly his strongest points. 

“I- I think that would be a good idea.” Martin added, still feeling incredibly warm, and trying (and failing) not to look at Jon. 

“I, well, I suppose that there is safety in numbers,” Jon conceded. Besides, his friends at the gym had been telling him he needed to be more social with his coworkers. Post-monster murder party was social, right? “We aren’t sleeping here though. I’d much rather stay somewhere I can shower. I think I may still have sand in my hair.”

Martin walked into a door frame. That mental image was too much. Thankfully Jon didn’t notice, but Tim gave him a thumbs up behind Jon’s back. 

“We can stay at my place, boss. I should have some extra clothes for you too,” Tim said. He had the perfect outfit in mind. They had reached the archives now and Jon pulled a black duffel bag from under his desk. 

“Oh that’s alright Tim.” Jon said absent mindedly pulling a tank top from the bag and striping off his undershirt. Martin wheezed. He had never seen a washboard like that in person. “Oh- I’m, I’m sorry this is highly inappropriate, and I know the scars aren’t much to look at,” Jon said self-consciously as he pulled the tank top on. Tim opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted by the sound of the trapdoor to the tunnels opening. 

What followed was Tim and Martin being ushered away to retrieve pizza and booze, as Jon spoke to the man who identified himself as Jurgen Leitner. He had refused to speak with Tim and Martin present. 

When the two returned to find Leitner brutally murdered and Jon nowhere to be found, it wasn’t exactly encouraging. Though Jon had left a hasty note explaining that he didn’t do it, but he couldn’t risk being arrested. He had also left the tape of his conversation with Leitner, which had the benefit of explaining some things. 

Jon meanwhile had found himself at Georgie’s place. It had been a good few months since they had seen each other face to face. He took a deep breath and knocked at her door.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am once again blown away by the response this fic is getting, like, honestly shocked, but you all seem to be enjoying it! So here’s another chapter 😊

Chapter 4

Georgie could not stop staring. She just could not for the life of her believe that the man sitting in borrowed sweatpants and a tank top that was, quite frankly, obscenely tight was Jonathon Sims. It simply wasn’t possible. The man sitting on her couch morosely petting her cat looked like one of those track athletes that modelled for sexy calendars in their spare time. She wanted so, so badly to ask him about it, but he looked exhausted. So she poured him a drink instead. She’d have to find a way to bring it up in conversation at some point. There was no way Jon was unaware of how different he looked compared to the last time she saw him a few months prior. 

Jon self-consciously shifted as he accepted the drink from Georgie. She had been staring a bit and he wished he had something to cover up his worm scars. Bad enough that they were still so visible, but with his clothes in Georgies washer, he had no way to really hide them. He wished he’d thought to grab a hoodie from his gym bag before running after seeing Leitner’s body. He hoped Tim and Martin got the tape ok. 

“Come on, let’s get you to bed,” Georgie said with a sigh. “You look exhausted.”

***

“Look, Georgie, it’s not… You don’t need to worry. I mean, I’m not- I’m not on drugs or anything.”

Georgie laughed in disbelief. This was turning out to be a far weirder conversation than she had thought it might be. 

“What? I could be on drugs!”

“Oh I don’t doubt that. Steroids seem the most likely,” she quipped, and Jon looked at her utterly bewildered. 

“What?” Georgie looked at him, incredulous. “You can’t honestly not have noticed?”

“Georgie I really don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“You are unbelievable Jon. I’m talking about the rippling muscles you seem to have developed out of nowhere.” Jon looked down at himself in surprise. 

“I- I suppose I’ve gotten a bit stronger, but what does that have to do with anything?”

“Jon the last time I saw you, you were a twig of a man. Now you look like you could probably bench press my body weight.“

“Oh its actually a very bad idea to try and bench press people. The weight distribution is all wrong and the risk of injury is pretty high due to the uneven pressure put on each arm.”

Georgie laughed, she could not accept this as the same Jon from a few months ago. It just wasn’t possible. She didn’t think Jon even knew what bench-pressing WAS when they had dated! 

“Jon what I’m trying to say, is how on earth did you somehow get so strong?” 

“Oh I got diagnosed with ADHD,” Jon replied matter of factly, while shuffling the papers of the statement he had been planning to record, and yes, Georgie was curious about that too considering Jon had claimed to have lost his job, but that took a back seat to mystery of his muscles. 

“Ok, and what does that have to do with anything?” 

“Oh, well, there was an incident at work, and in order to be allowed to come back sooner, I was required to visit a therapist, and they said I probably had ADHD.”

“Go on,” Georgie said when it looked like Jon had finished. 

“Well, they recommended I try to get more exercise, as a way to manage it. I didn’t really want to try medication.” He looked down at himself. “I suppose I’ve put on a bit of muscle. I’ve been going to the gym nearly every day lately.” He sighed. “I’m going to miss Cathy’s boxing class today. I’ll probably have 50 missed messages from people checking up on me,” he added with what could only be a pout, and a somewhat dramatized sigh. 

Georgie was having a hard time comprehending Jon being sad about missing a boxing class. It just didn’t compute. She decided to focus on the parts that did make sense. “ADHD huh? Is that why you always get so locked in on a topic?” It made sense. It also explained a lot about some of the stranger things she had caught Jon doing when they had dated. And his obsessively focused tendencies. He really did seem healthier too. More animated and less prone to crotchety old man behaviour. Whoever he had made friends with at they gym they were clearly good for him. 

“Hmm I suppose so.”

“Well, I’m happy for you Jon I really am. Though I have to say, I’m still not keen on creepy stalkers knowing my address,” she said, gesturing to the statement in Jon’s hands that had come through the mail slot that morning. 

“No you’re right, that’s not really fair to you. I’m sorry for bringing this into your house. You didn’t sign on for this,” Jon said, because Becky had said it was important to validate other people’s concerns. The gym etiquette on supporting other people had been something that Jon had really enjoyed, much to his surprise. 

“I- well, thank you?” It really was like stepping into the twilight zone talking to Jon right now. “I- I can’t imagine you signed on for whatever this mess is either.” Jon looked a little helpless at that and Georgie got the distinct impression that Jon was feeling very out of his depth but had no idea how to deal with it. He nodded slightly. “I’ll, give you some space to record then,” Georgie said, not sure what else to do. 

*** 

Jon called Tim that evening. Tim had a solid alibi for the murder and likely didn’t have his phones tapped. At least Jon didn’t think he would. But Jon needed allies, and he couldn’t remember Martin’s new phone number, since he had had to keep his own phone turned off at the risk of them trying to track it. He wasn’t entirely sure how that sort of thing worked, but the police on the telly seemed to be able to track people down pretty easily so he couldn’t chance it. 

They had agreed to meet in a discreet cafe. Jon had tried to dress as unlike himself as was possible. He was wearing a wide brimmed hat that he had made fun of when Georgie had first bought it, he wore one of Georgie’s v-neck t shirts that was far more revealing then anything he would normally wear, and a pair of his jeans from college that Georgie had kept- that he hadn’t remembered being so tight.

All told he thought he was pretty incognito for anyone looking for someone fitting the description of Jon Sims. He was so well disguised in fact that it took Tim a full five minutes to find him, which Jon counted as a win. 

Tim, for his part was having a hard time with Jon’s current look. He was comfortably bisexual, and had never in his life been attracted to Jon, but sitting in that cafe updating Jon on what was happening, Tim made a mental note to apologize to Martin for teasing him for having a crush on Jon. Jon was still kind of an ass a lot of the time, but looking at him, his arms fully exposed, yeah, yeah Tim understood. Maybe Martin’s taste wasn’t as bad as he had thought. 

“I hope we clear you of this mess soon boss. I’m not sure how many more visits from panicked lesbians I can take,” Tim was saying as he finished his coffee. 

“What do you mean?” Jon asked utterly lost. 

“Your friends from the gym I guess? The police questioned them, and they have been coming by daily to check for updates or calling. One of them brought vegan brownies as a bribe for information on the investigation.”

Jon wasn’t surprised that his friends from the gym were worried, and he felt deeply guilty for it. He missed them too. He especially missed the self defence fitness classes. He was starting to feel antsy all the time now that he wasn’t regularly burning off all his excess energy. Like he was perpetually vibrating under his skin. He had noticed his ability to focus was lessening too and he hated it. 

“How do you know they’re lesbians?” Jon asked. He knew some of them were of course, but surely not all of them?

“Boss,” Tim said giving him an incredulous look. 

“It’s- it’s not like we talk about that sort of thing in the gym,” Jon mumbled. Now that he thought about it, he had realized most of his gym friends were queer, he just hadn’t mentally connected that they were ALL queer. It did explain why they gave him that locker magnet that said “honourary lesbian” though. 

“Well, we need to get you exonerated soon or your pack of gym lesbians are going to kill Elias themselves. He is so guilty by the way. When he hired Melanie and she asked about you, he said something like ‘oh we don’t need to worry about Jon’s position.’ Like, he doesn’t know you that well, but he has zero doubt that you're innocent, so he’s definitely guilty.”

“I don’t disagree with you Tim,” Jon said with a sigh. They agreed to meet there again the next week and, because Tim was a good bro, he managed to snap a picture of Jon in the outfit before leaving. Martin was going to lose his mind.


	5. In which Elias gets what he deserves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t know why this chapter was so hard to write, but it really was. So I apologize if it’s not up to my usual standard. Thank you all so much for your reviews, they really do make my week.

When the first tape arrived through Georgie’s mail slot Jon was quick to share it with Tim, and through Tim with Martin. The two had insisted on being nearby when he went to talk to Jude Perry and Jon certainly appreciated the support. They had arranged for Martin and Tim both to be somewhere in the cafe while he met with Jude, to provide backup if it looked like he needed it. The conversation went about as well as could be expected, right up until the end when Jude held out her hand for Jon to shake.

“Compromise,” Jon said, and held out his knuckles for a fist bump. It seemed safer then a hand shake, and Jon had gotten quite used to them from the girls (and Lex) at the gym. Jude looked at him in confusion, then laughed. 

“Alright Archivist. Alright. You’re funny I’ll give you that. I accept.“ Her knuckles met his, and he gasped in pain, pulling his hand away. Jude laughed and looking at his charred and leathery knuckles. Jon Knew he had gotten off very easily. Jude wrote down an address for Mike Crew and left, leaving Martin and Tim to swoop in and check on Jon. 

“I- I’m alright, it could have been a lot worse,” Jon said, flinching as Martin took his hand to examine the worst of the burns. “She, she something she said reminded me of a friend of mine. Always prefers fist bumps. I figured it would be a better alternative to her handshake.” The friend in question was obsessed with fist bumps in fact, insisting on them after every set. Jon would have thought he would find it tiring, but it had been strangely endearing. 

His hand didn’t hurt, which was probably a bad sign. 

“You should really go to the hospital,” Martin said, wincing at the sight of the obvious third degree burns. Jon gave him a look. Going to the hospital as a wanted man was Not an option. They treated the burns as best they could and then retreated to a restaurant across the street to discuss what they had learned. 

“Boss I should tell you, I- I tried to stay home for a while, with everything happening and Elias being so obviously guilty. I just didn’t want to deal with that place but, the longer I was away the sicker I got. Are you- have you been getting sick?” 

“I- no, but, but there are still statements being slipped through the door. It’s- I think I may, _need_ them.” He confessed. It felt good to tell his friends. He couldn’t work out his feelings at the gym right, but having a confidant felt nice too.

“We’ll figure this out,” Martin tried to reassure Jon, and Tim nodded. 

“So, go to wherever it is you’re hiding, and on Saturday we’ll meet back here and all three of us will go see this-“ Tim glanced at the paper Jude had give Jon, “Mike Crew.” 

*** 

The Saturday in question was in two days. Tim and Martin still had to work, and it would be suspicious if they took any more time off, and they had all agreed that Jon should have backup when he went. Jon however had been getting antsy. It had been nearly two weeks since he had been able to go to the gym, and his mental state was starting to suffer. 

  
He found himself sleeping less and obsessing over his situation more. His more, impulsive side was far from in check at the moment. He lasted only one day before he went to meet Mike Crew alone. 

It was only mildly useful, and before he knew it he had found himself fighting a police officer. He had done better than he would have expected, managing to keep her blade away from his throat, but he wasn’t any match for the gun she pulled to his head. 

Which was how he ended up in the office of Elias Bouchard, with two angry cops and all of his coworkers. It was not a particularly useful conversation either, though Jon was glad he’d be able to come partly out of hiding at least; with Daisy and Basira off his back. 

When the cops left, Elias turned to Tim and Martin with an overly pleasant smile. “Now that’s taken care of, if you’ll all give me and Jon a moment alone, I’m sure we have some things to discuss.” Tim and Martin gave Jon worried looks. 

“See you down in the Archives, boss” Tim said trying to be reassuring, and Jon gave him a weak smile as they all filtered out. 

“Come on, Jon, there’s really no need for the scowl,” Elias said with the smuggest expression on his face. Jon had a deep and persistent desire to punch the man.

“What do you want?” 

“Honestly? To offer some congratulations. You’re doing a lot better than I expected.” Jon snorted. That was just condescending, and Jon was getting very tired of Elias’s stupid smirk. 

“I’m not getting any answers out of this, am I?” Jon didn’t see the point in prolonging this conversation, and he was eager to get back down to the archives to see the others, and even more eager to be able to finally relax now that he wasn’t wanted for murder. 

“The easily digestible sort that wipe away any doubt and fear, and neatly organise your new world into happy little columns? No. Not from me. These are things you must discover on your own.” Jon found his fists involuntarily clenching. He had never been a violent man, though the in last year he had developed a mean right hook thanks to Cathy’s boxing classes. More importantly though, Jon had spent the last year slowly building up the confidence not to have to take Elias’s crap. 

“Why?” Jon asked sharply. Elias sighed. 

“What are you?”

“I… The Archivist.” Jon was thrown slightly off balance by the question. 

“Precisely. It is your job to chronicle these things, to experience them, whether first-hand or through the eyes of others. To simply be told, well…”

“It doesn’t please your master?” Jon sneered. 

“Our master, Jon,” Elias said, and the smug grin was back. Jon didn’t think he would be able to resist punching the man for long. Had he always been this irritating?

“I never chose this,” Jon said emphatically. 

“You never wanted this, no. But I’m afraid you absolutely did choose it. In a hundred ways, at a hundred thresholds, you pressed on. You sought knowledge relentlessly-“

Elias was cut off by Jon’s fist in his face. It wasn’t full force, as Jon’s left punch wasn’t as strong as his right, and given the burns to his dominant hand... the desk in between them also kept Jon from really being able to punch the man. Elias looked genuinely shocked as he put a hand to his face. 

“Really Jon there’s no need for-“ he stopped when he saw Jon’s fist still clenched. “Perhaps some of Gertrude’s notes can find their way to you,” Elias bit out, clearly unhappy about it. Jon nodded. As much as he wanted to pummel Elias, he didn’t know if that would have adverse effects on the other people supposedly bound to the man. Still, as he turned and left the office to go back to the Archives, it felt a little like a victory. 


End file.
